


Prisms

by AliceAro



Series: In Another Reality [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Angry!Amell, Colorblind Soulmate AU, F/M, Soulmate Color AU, Soulmates, Unrequited Hate, Unrequited Love, idk - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2018-12-02 03:58:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11501313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceAro/pseuds/AliceAro
Summary: Both are impossible: The fact that she is now colorblind. . . and the fact that others around her somehow aren't.A sequel to Colors.Colorblind Soulmate Dragon Age AU





	1. Unlike Her

**Author's Note:**

> No Alistair/Amell shipping in this first chapter. This chapter is mainly a recap for what happened in the prequel Colors, which is Jowan's and Solona's story. Please give it a read.

Half his attention was somewhere else even as he gave commands to his Wardens. His focus was primarily on the newest recruit he had asked to wait patiently at the middle of camp while he dealt with the other more senior Wardens. He saw a figure make its way towards the mage girl. A sense of uneasiness settled in his gut as he watched the Head Senior Enchanter approach his soon-to-be Mage-Warden.

The figure belonged an old woman by the name of Wynne who was in charge of the Circle mages. When the older mage waved her hand in greeting, the junior mageling’s posture became tense and guarded. Even from across the encampment his sharp eyes saw the small sparks of magic she let out in irritation. He quickly dismissed his men and made his way towards Solona Amell.

“I thought it was you,” the enchanter said lightly. “I did not receive word that you have been sent over from the Tower, Apprentice Amell.”

Amell pointedly ignored her. The twitch in the mage’s eye was the only indication that she had heard her. Wynne didn’t seem to take offense.

“Or is it Mage Amell now?” Something like pride simmering in Wynne’s eyes. Though with it was the barest hint of distaste. “There was talk of advancing your Harrowing… to an, if I may say so, unjustly and slightly detrimentally, early date.”

The enchanter’s gaze softened and swept over the mageling’s frame with concern. Amell seemed to bristle under the scrutiny. Her hands curled into fists so hard her knuckles turned white.

“No matter, come with me. I’ll sort you out with the others.” Before Duncan could interject, Amell whirled and snapped at the senior enchanter.

“You did not hear anything from the Tower because I was not sent from the Tower!” Her lip curled into a vicious snarl. “I have been recruited into the Grey Wardens. So I will never have to answer to you again!”

Wynne caught sight of Duncan hovering nearby and made the connection

“I’m sorry.” She reached out for Amell. “It was a misunderstanding–”

_“Don’t touch me, you old ha–”_

“Warden Amell!” The mageling stiffened. She looked indignant but compliantly went quiet. The grey of her ears changed shade. It triggered a memory of a red-orange blush he’d seen bloom high on her face before. “Feel free to explore the camp here as you wish. All I ask is that you do not leave it for the time being.”

Amell quirked an eyebrow probably expecting a scolding of some sort. But she nodded all the same.

“There is another Warden in the camp by the name of Alistair. When you’re ready seek him out and tell it’s time to summon the other recruits.”

Duncan dismissed her. The mageling stayed in place and fidgeted for a moment, looking very conflicted. Then suddenly she stood in salute and bowed to him.

Wynne’s jaw dropped.

Amell quickly fled the scene, leaving Duncan alone with the enchanter who gawked at him and the retreating mage girl. It was a while before the woman composed herself enough to speak.

“That was… unexpected.” Wynne hesitated, then her jaw set and she added. “Highly uncharacteristic. Tell me, did you also recruit a mage by the name of Jowan? Is this why she behaves? Is that how you’re controlling her?”

Her speech was known to have tact, so it surprise Duncan that she did not mince words. There was also a frightening coldness in her eyes as Duncan answered her.

“Amell was the only mage I recruited from Kinloch Hold. And while I invoked the Right of Conscription, she retains her own volition to be here.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Wynne crossed her arms and continued to stare the rogue down. “If you did not take Jowan with you, she would never agree to leave him. The boy means everything to her. He is her s–” The enchanter cut herself off, afraid of having said too much.

“Soulmate.” Duncan provided. Wynne’s eyes widen in surprise. “I am aware. But you are correct, I did not recruit him and she did not want to leave him.”

Wynne eyed him suspiciously. “Something is terribly wrong then.” The enchanter uncrossed her arms and stepped closer to him. “What do you know? What has happened?”

The Warden Commander did not back down. Instead he carefully replied. “It is not my place to say.” The woman opened her mouth to object, but Duncan added. “However… you care for her.”

“No more than a teacher would for a student. No more than the old would for the young.” Duncan had never meant anyone who was so righteous but who also wasn’t insufferable or hateful. “No more than a person would care for another.” This woman managed (although she was still very much judgmental.) She had his respect for that.

“Are you aware that Jowan has been accused of being a maleficar?”

Wynne frowned and nodded. “Was he found guilty?”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” Her old eyes flashed with sadness. “The poor girl… They made him Tranquil then?”

“No, he got away.” Duncan recounted. “But not before betraying her trust and friendship. He lied to her, used her to escape, and then left her to the mercy of Templars without explanation or good-bye.”

Duncan closed his eyes and recalled the devastation on the young girl’s face.

“It destroyed her. She– she has not been the same since.”

The senior enchanter was again at a loss for words. Her sharp eyes searched his, for a sign of duplicity or inaccuracy he was not sure. When she spoke again there was something like heartbreak in her voice.

“There is something else. What have you not told me?”

Duncan tensed. Of course there was more, but if this information later comes back to harm Amell in some way… he would not forgive himself.

“I am telling you this partly because you worry for her.” There was a warning in his tone. “But also so that you can tell me if there is anything in your grasp of magic and the arcane arts that could explain how _this_ happened.”

Wynne nodded in understanding. “And what is _this_ exactly?”

Duncan exhaled.

“Amell has lost her ability to see color.”

Head Senior Enchanter Wynne did not respond for a long moment. She waited for the deception to reveal itself, but when the Warden Commander did not recant his words she expressed her distress and horror.

“That cannot be!” Wynne brought her hand to her mouth as she tried to lower her voice. “This is unheard of, you must be mistaken!”

“I am not–”

 _“You must be!”_ There was a hint of a plea in her voice. “Because if you are not then–” A sadness that Duncan has only seen during times of endless suffering and senseless death shone in the woman’s eyes. “Then I don’t think Amell will ever again know true peace in her life or pure love in her heart.”

“Is there no way to reverse this?” An small ache trumped in his chest as the enchanter shook her head. “A spell that could undo this, perhaps?”

“ _This_ should not even be possible.” Wynne’s eyes stared at the pathway Amell disappeared towards. “Whatever affliction now ails her will bring her nothing but misery.”

A shadow flickered in Wynne's old eyes. "I imagine Mage Amell would prefer death than this cruel fate."

“Don’t talk about her like that!” Wynne jerked, surprised at the fervor in his voice. There was an intensity along with a conviction that resonated in his soul. “She is a fighter. Stronger, smarter, and braver than you or anyone else think she is.” He does not understand why, but he did not want anyone pitying or doubting her. “Amell is one of the most brilliant young woman I’ve ever met. Solona is destined for great things.”

Wynne watched the rogue for a long moment.

“Solona?”

Duncan tensed a little, unsure if he should be embarrassed by the familiarity he had addressed the young mage. But Wynne smiled kindly.

“She is not fond of others calling her by her first name.” A tone of relief rang in the old woman’s words. Mixed with something akin to happiness. “Though I do not think she will mind when you do.”

The senior enchanter was beaming now. Duncan understood then. Wynne was glad there was someone new in Amell’s life who cared for her. And he did. He did care for Solona Amell.  
  
“She will be a fine Grey Warden.” He said for the sake of speaking.

“You are not a man easily impressed.” She gave him a knowing smile. “Amell should be proud.”

The finality of their conversation was understood by both parties. There was nothing more to do or say. After nodding and shaking hands, the enchanter and the rogue both moved to part ways.

Then an explosion erupted in the camp.


	2. Unlike Rage and Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'What happened?' you might ask. 
> 
> Alistair royally pissed Amell off is what happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so very slow when it comes to writing. So I'm sorry if you have to deal with that.

A tremor of powerful magic rippled through the whole encampment. The disorienting shockwave rendered the masses confused and afraid. Some hid, but many brought up their weapons. His own Wardens readied their arms already searching for darkspawn emissaries. The Warden Commander himself unsheathed his daggers as he took a deep breath to shout commands for his men.

But then magic settled against his skin and brushed against his nerves with a familiar hum. Duncan’s inhaled breath was sharper this time. He knows this magic.

After sheathing his blades and ordering his Wardens to stand down, Duncan made his way through the camp looking for the source. Looking for _her._

The roar of enraged armored Fereldan soldiers with their clanking metal of shields and swords resounded from the other side of the camp. Duncan quickly pushed his way through horde searching for the wayward mageling he knew to be the cause of this commotion. When he finally made his way to the front of the crowd, he was at the ruins near the War Tables in the edge of the camp. His heart nearly stopped as his eyes beheld at the alarming sight.

Several imposing hulks of men surrounded a small lean girl with their swords drawn poised to attack. They were close but none were near striking distance… yet. Those who were not brave enough stood in the edge of the ruins with arrows notched in their bows waiting for an opening to take the girl down. And by the disturbingly zealous look in their faces, Duncan knew they did not care about keeping the girl alive.

But despite the threats to her life, the mage girl stood her ground, unafraid but absolutely livid. She pointedly ignored the dangerously angry warriors and soldiers before her. Instead her feral eyes looked passed them all, narrowing on the lone harmless Templar half incased in a prison made from her Winter’s Grasp spell.

Her lip curled viciously around her gleaming impossibly sharp teeth as Alistair frantically struggled against his restraints. The lower half of his body and one of his hands were trapped in ice. His free hand readied a charge of Smite and Amell tensed and spun her staff in an animalistic snarl.

But Alistair’s Smite was aimed at his frozen limbs not at the mage girl. Amell paused slightly at that. Her gaze was still bloodthirsty but Duncan could see the hesitation in her eyes. But it was gone in a blink and only icy caustic hatred remained. And it was all directed towards the Templar.

Maker help them, why was this happening? What could have Alistair done to make Amell act as she does? But Duncan or even Alistair could make a move or get a word in, one of the armed men finally decided to strike.

The man lunged forward and thrusted his sword aiming at the mage’s heart. Without taking her eyes off Alistair the girl brought her hand up and the man crashed into an invisible barrier. His sword raked against the force field before it forcefully ricocheted causing the man to be thrown back. The other men quickly dove out of the way to avoid a collision as the flung solider slammed into a boulder. He did not get up again. Those still standing raged harder.

“Don’t hurt her!” Alistair’s words were a desperate, frantic plea. His expression was terrified. But not for his own life, Duncan realized, he feared for the mage girl. A Smite finally shattered the ice around one of his legs. But the process was too slow for the Templar boy. He was too eager to get to Amell’s side. To protect her. “Please! Please don’t hurt her!”

Amell’s magic responded to Alistair’s begging with a mixture of shock and outrage. Her magic took no shape or element only rawly thrummed with no command other than to expression her blistering, murderous wrath.

“I’m going to kill you,” she seethed at Alistair. Then she turned her gaze to the men standing between them. “And I will kill all of you if you get in my way.”

Phantom blades of magic licked at the skin of their throats in ominous warning. The men all flinched in horror. Some even dropped their swords.

Amell was monstrous.

Duncan finally stepped in. He advanced towards Amell and she had the decency to look nervous. Her magic did not withdraw or part for him, but it also did not harm him. The mageling took a step back when Duncan stopped in front of her.

 _“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”_ Amell did not respond. He did not expected her too. He towered over her small frame as she hunched over, trying to make herself smaller. She opened her mouth but then immediately closed it and let her teeth worry her bottom lip. Her magic fizzled in distress.

The sound of ice shattering sounded somewhere behind him, but Duncan did not turn to see Alistair finally free himself. Amell went ridged and tried to look at the Templar over Duncan’s shoulder.

“Don’t look at him,” the Warden-Commander snapped. “Look at me!” Amell stiffened even more but obeyed. Duncan let his disapproval and stern anger ring in his voice.

“Do you realize how horrendously appalling this behavior is? Do you think this is appropriate conduct for person in our Order?” He did not know if he was truly upset, but he had to get her away from the growing angry mob. So he let the words shame her. He hoped to subdue her by appealing to the sense of begrudging respect she had for him.

“You have shown flagrant disregard for stature as a Grey Warden,” Amell’s magic receded till it was only a protective wall around her person. “Do not think this will go unpunishment.”

The air around the mage girl crackled with electricity. But her expression revealed that it was due to uncertainty not aggression. The girl stood fitfully suddenly unsure of herself although still very much agitated.

Duncan moved to take her away when he saw anger start to simmer again in her eyes as Alistair tried to approach her. Duncan shifted himself in front of Amell, completely obscuring her view of his junior Warden. He held out his arm in front of Alistair in a command to stop.

He turned his head and quickly scanned to crowd. He spotted the two Senior Warden who had followed him and surveyed the entire incident with bewildered trepidation. He addressed them.

“Take her into custody.” He commanded as he nudged Amell to their direction. “Detain her in one of our tents. I’ll deal with her later.”

“Wait!” Alistair shouted while the two other Wardens hesitated. Duncan knew they were afraid of her, but they did their duty. With one hand on each shoulder, they led her way. Amell’s magic still lingered around her, but she did not resist. The crowd hastily moved out of the way.

“Please, wait!” Alistair cried again. The boy lurched towards the mage girl, but a hand roughly pulled him back. Alistair struggled against Duncan’s grip, as the older man dragged him further into the ruins out of the sight of the crowd.

“Alistair, stop.” The junior Warden weakly clawed at his gauntlet without turning to him. The boy was a distressed mess. Duncan knew nothing would appease him but the sight and presence of the girl. And he had his suspicions as to why.

Duncan grabbed the boy by the shoulder and shook him.

“Snap out of it boy!” He made Alistair look at him.

“You don’t understand!” Alistair stared at him then. Overwhelming anxiety riddled the poor boy. His voice was a strained cry of fear. “If anything happens to her…. I have to get to her. I have to be by her side. To protect her-”

“Alistair, she nearly killed you and a dozen other men with barely wave of her hand.” Duncan said a little too unkindly. “She doesn’t need your protection.”

“What are you going to do to her?” He asked only half listening. “Please. Please! Don’t hurt her!”

“I would never hurt her.” Duncan tightened his grip on Alistair’s shoulder at the slight insult. “Alistair, you’re not thinking!”

_I’m not thinking straight._

Because Duncan couldn’t. Because it most definitely had happened again and he was still no closer to understanding how it was even possible or how even to deal with it. He couldn’t sort through his thoughts fast enough to comprehend the significance of this new situation. Of a new person privy to the situation .

And as Alistair confirmed what he already knew, dread pooled in his stomach.

“Of course I’m not thinking straight!” Alistair shouted hoarsely.

The Warden Commander could only stand there and listen as Alistair, junior Warden and Fereldan royalty’s biggest secret, made a claim on Solona Amell.

“I _saw _color! Duncan…__

_That girl is my soulmate.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should probably add "Enemies to Lovers" tag on this, but idk if I should cause the hate is pretty one-sided.


	3. Unlike Fire and Ice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alistair thinks he just met his soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Are you mad that I haven't updated this in half a year because I sure am. I'm so sorry stupid college got in the way. Ugh, why'd a choose a theatre major. But it's Christmas break so here have a chapter fic. Hopefully I'll write several more before the semester starts again. 
> 
> Again, sorry for the wait, please accept this long chapter as an apology. 
> 
> Anyways enjoy!

Something slick and oily was crawling up and down his throat. Dread had mixed with the blood pumped from his heart and roared in his veins. A senseless mad chant echoed in his mind and it threatened to bring him to the brink of hysteria.  
  
_Mate. Mate. Mate._  
  
_**She is my soulmate.**_  
  
And as the Warden-Commander led him deeper into the ruins all he could think about was how she looked at him with so much hate and hurt in her eyes.  
  
He was going to be sick.  
  
“Alistair, stop!”  
  
Still he struggled against his Warden-Commander’s grip. Nausea made his efforts weak but he wouldn’t, couldn’t, stop. Men. Men in armor. Men with swords. Men who looked at his soulmate with contempt and disdain. These men had her. They roughly dragged her away to who-knows-where and Alistair didn’t believe she would remain unharmed in their malicious company.  
  
“Snap out of it boy!” The Warden-Commander forcefully twisted his head so that their eyes were level though his stare must have been wild and unfocused. So he fought against his raging blind panic because he needed Duncan to know.  
  
“You don’t understand!” His voice was a pathetic whine even to his own ears. He didn’t care. When he casted his eyes away from Duncan’s, he looked around and could no longer spot the mage girl. Bile rose to his throat, choked back only by the anxiety threatening to suffocate him.  
  
He had to find her.  
  
“If anything happens to her…” Alistair couldn’t finish the horrifying thought. Instead he proclaimed what he now knew was his soul-bound duty to the mage girl. “I have to get to her. I have to be by her side. To protect her-”  
  
“Alistair, she nearly killed you and a dozen other men with barely wave of her hand.”  
  
The distaste in Warden Commander’s voice was very evident. There was a time when the mere prospect of being the object of Duncan’s disapproval would have destroyed him. But right now he didn’t give a damn about anything other than his soulmate.  
  
“She doesn’t need your protection.” What the hell was he talking about? Of course she did. She was a mage and she was surrounded by so many people who are afraid of magic. Alistair knows fear could make people do horrible things. His soulmate was in danger.  
  
Then Alistair remembers that it wasn’t just any men who took his soulmate away. They were his brethren. They were Wardens like him. And they answered to the Warden-Commander currently dragging him further into the ruins away from his soulmate.  
  
“What are you going to do to her?” He would beg. No, he would _grovel on his knees._ He would absolutely debase himself to keep his mage girl was safe. “Please. Please! Don’t hurt her!”  
  
“I would never hurt her.” Duncan sounded … indignant. Did the accusation that he would harm the girl offend him? Why? What’s his stake in her? Before Alistair could open his mouth to question this, Duncan snapped at him sharply. “Alistair, you’re not thinking!”  
  
“Of course I’m not thinking straight!” His voice was getting hoarse. It was becoming more and more difficult to concentrate. His mind strained to put together coherent thoughts. But one thought was crystal clear, and he was ready to shout it to the heavens so Duncan and all of Thedas could understand.  
  
“I saw color! Duncan…. _**That girl is my soulmate.**_ ”  
  
Alistair cared enough to notice that the Warden-Commander had gone somewhat pale. There was a sort of pitying sadness in his eyes that Alistair did not care for. And when Duncan spoke his next words, Alistair thought he might just punch him.  
  
“She’s not your soulmate.”  
  
Anger itched at the back of his eyes causing spots to dance in his vision. “THE HELL SHE’S NOT!" He didn’t care how insubordinate he sounded, Duncan was about to lose his front teeth.  
  
“Alistair, listen to me and listen carefully.” There was a dark almost dangerous gleam in the rogue’s eyes. It was an effort on Alistair’s part to not take a step back. This was a seasoned warrior before him and there was a line he shouldn’t dare cross. “You must tell no one what you experience. You cannot speak about it even to Amell.”  
  
_Amell_  
  
That was the girl’s name; a beautiful, powerful name that matched the strength of her character. It was fitting but oddly incomplete. Amell must have been her last name. Damn, he didn’t catch her first name. He had to rectify that. He needed to talk to her.  
  
“You should probably not speak to her outside of mission orders all together.”  
  
Alistair felt a vein in his forehead throb. “Why the hell not?” He can’t keep the bite out of his words.  
  
“Because she’s suffered enough.”  
  
The words hit him like a slap to the face. Was the girl hurt? Was she in pain? Dammit he had to get to her. He turned sharply and tried to jerk out of Duncan’s grip, but the older man held on.  
  
“Alistair…” Duncan warned.  
  
“What do you want from me?” Alistair snapped back. “I just met my soulmate and you and everyone one in this cursed camp is keeping me from her.”  
  
“I told you she’s not-”  
  
“I will run a sword through you!” Later, Alistair will deeply regret those words. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
  
“And you know even less.” The rogue growled as he twisted the young boy’s arm. “Can you see color now?”  
  
Alistair paused. “Yes… No. I mean, it’s fading. It might not have, I don’t know, locked it yet? You took her away from me so soon.”  
  
“That’s not how it works.”  
  
“Then what-”  
  
“How did it happen?”  
  
“What?”  
  
“Tell me the events that led to you attaining… the ability.” There was the uneasiness in his voice and the careful phrasing of his words that Alistair couldn’t understand. The only thing stopping him for questioning it was the overwhelming urge to bellow from rooftops of the encampment towers that he had found his soulmate.  
  
So he told Duncan everything.  
  


* * *

Unwarranted anger was always such a joy to deal with, thought Alistair stiffly as he addressed the grumpy Circle mage. It was times like these that brought him really close to cursing the Chantry for raising him with the inability to deny a Revered Mother’s request.  
  
_You are a Grey Warden now_ , he reminded himself. _Your days of taking orders from Chantry women are over._  
  
Yet here he was getting attitude from wide, grey-faced mage acting like he was too big for his britches.  
  
“Yes, I was harassing you by delivering you a message.” He said in his usual cheeky manner. In the corner of his vision he saw another figure approaching them.  
  
“Your glibness does you no credit.” There was no reasoning with this mage. So now here was his cue to deflect all hostility with humor.  
  
“Here I thought we we’re getting along so well. I was even going to name one of my children after you,” he paused for dramatic effect. “The grumpy one.”  
  
“Enough. I will speak to the woman if I must.” The Circle mage turned and almost collided with the figure he saw earlier. “Get out of my way, fool-AAAHH”  
  
Fear turned ser Grumpy’s grey face white as his eyes filled with recognition. There was a young girl standing in front of the mage giving him a look dripping with acidic contempt.  
  
“What was that, Aron?” The girl crooned with lethal sweetness. “I must have misheard you.”  
  
“I-I… ah-I…” Aron, as he is apparently named, didn’t finish his sentence. He bolt away so fast Alistair thought Death was nipping at his heels. The way the girl made the grumpy mage almost wet himself made Alistair's heart skip a beat. The girl’s look of contempt morphed into bored indifference. She faced Alistair.  
  
Grey eyes bore into his and Alistair gulped at the scrutiny. This was an uncomfortable situation so as always he decided to make a joke.  
  
“You know, one good thing about the Blight is how it brings people together.” He gave the girl a goofy smile that he regret when he realize how beautiful she was. It was a sharp, menacing sort of beauty that scared a great deal of men. Especially men like grumpy Aron and dopey Alistair. Alistair felt himself sweat.  
  
Then the girl’s features soften and she let out a loud snort that was impossibly adorable.  
  
“Terrible,” she said. Alistair felt his face heat up. His heart was doing a weird fluttering rhythm in his chest.  
  
“Uh, we haven’t met, have we?” He tried to say casually even as his mouth went dry. “I don’t suppose you happen to be another mage.”  
  
The girl regarded him. The way all the mirth blink out of her eyes made Alistair nervous. This girl guarded her emotions well. And for some reason Alistair had a strong desire to see her with all those walls down.  
  
“Would that make your day worst?” She said it lightly but he knew she was feeling him out.  
  
“Not really,” he said with his most charming smile. “I just like to know the chance of being turned into a toad.”  
  
Beautiful laughter resounded in his ears. The girl flashed him with a brilliant, toothy smile that warmed him in all the good places. She seemed surprised by her reaction but even as she tried to hide her expression behind her hands, Alistair could still see how her eyes sparkled with delight. She was so lovely.  
  
Clearing her throat, the girl gathered herself. She looked him once over again with that guarded demeanor. Alistair thought he would make it his life mission to get pass her guard and make her smile.  
  
“You don’t have to worry about that,” she said off-handedly. “At least not with Aron, he’s terrible at Transfiguration.”  
  
“So you know each other?” There was a note in his voice the sounded awfully like… jealousy. That can’t right. Why would he feel that way? He shook his head. “Wait, I do know who you are. You’re Duncan’s new recruit, from the Circle of Magi.” So she was a mage. “I should have recognized you right away. I apologize.”  
  
The mage girl quirked a perfect eyebrow at him. “If you have a problem with my magic,” she said in a low voice, “say so now.”  
  
“No! No problem.” He said quickly, desperate not to offend her. “It’s just my background makes mages nervous. And nervous mages make me nervous.” He tried to repeat the joke that made her laugh. “I don’t want to be a toad. I like the way I am.”  
  
The corners of her mouth twitch, but she didn’t smile again. Alistair tried not to be so disappointed.  
  
“Allow me to introduce myself: I’m Alistair, the new Grey Warden,” the mage didn’t bat an eyelash. “Though, you already knew that,” he finished lamely.  
  
He was boring her now he knew and he wanted to hit himself for it. For some inexplicable reason he cared really deeply about what this mage girl thought of him. It probably didn’t help that he was a Templar, but he had to try.  
  
“So, uh, are you really a mage.” He asked for some stupid reason. “You don’t look like a mage.” He should really just stop talking.  
  
The girl rolled her eyes. There was still a hint of mirth under her exasperated look. She held out her hand. The lyrium in his blood sang as energy gathered in the palm of her hands. Grey flames slithered between her fingers and twirled in the air around them. The mage casted a frost spell and now the flames simmered as the sunlight caught on the ice. It was mesmerizing.  
  
Alistair was amazed with her control over her magic. Simultaneously casting two opposing spells that somehow balance and didn’t cancel each other out was no small feat. Alistair was entranced. His hand moved without his say so.  
  
The pleasant sensation of ice and fire danced around his fingers. Ever so slightly he pressed his fingertips against the silky skin of her palm.  
The world exploded around him.  
  
A swarm of brilliant shades engulfed everything in his sight. Apparitions of flames burned away the grey of the earth and left a myriad of pigments in its place. The grey sky crystalized, fractured, and shattered like ice as bright hues painted the heavens. In a mere heartbeat, his world had filled to the brim with color.  
  
Alistair breath caught in his throat when his eyes took in the mage girl in front of him haloed in a prismatic glow.  
  
Sun-kissed skin peppered with the burgundy blush of youth. Wild untamed hair as fine as black silk stuck out and curled around her olive features. Warm brown lips were set rightfully so in a proud, self-satisfied smile. Eyes as deep and endless as a moonless night flashed in all the shades of shadows as they gazed up at him.  
  
She was brilliant.  
  
Light seemed to dance in her eyes as she waited for his response.  
  
_Waited for him._  
  
His heart thrummed in euphoric bliss as he cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips lightly against hers in reverent affection. Color rose high on her face as she gaped up at him.  
  
“I can see color.” Alistair sang. “You are my soulmate.”  
  
Alistair thought he heard thunder and lightning fall from the heavens and split open the earth as his soulmate’s eyes darkened with unadulterated wrath.  
  


* * *

Bile had successfully escaped his throat and he was now dry heaving on the ground. Duncan soothed a hand down his neck.  
  
“I can’t…” Alistair panted. “I can’t believe she looked at me like that.” Pinpricks of tears stung his eyes but he didn’t let them fall. He can live with the fact that his soulmate hated him. He doesn’t understand why, but he would find a way to deal with that later. Right now he had to make sure she was safe. He told Duncan as much.  
  
“Alistair…” There it was again. The pity in the rogue’s voice. He didn’t want to hear it. “She is not your soulmate. You are not her soulmate. Amell already has a soulmate.”  
  
Alistair whipped his head up to look at the Warden-Commander. His already empty stomach churned and he thought he was going to be sick again. He wished Duncan just punched him.  
  
“What…what do you mean?” He could hear the pain in his own voice. Duncan winced. The Commander looked at him for a long moment and didn’t say anything.  
  
“Please. I need to know.” Duncan let out a heavy sigh and told Amell’s story.  
  
The narration was about a mage girl who loved a mage boy so much, she would have helped him escape the Tower even if it meant leaving her. And not just leave her but run off with a different girl he had loved more than the mage girl.  
  
Alistair’s nails dug grooves on the ground soil even as his hands shook.  
  
The story continued with a betrayal. The mage boy was a blood mage and he had lied to the mage girl. But the boy only revealed the truth when the girl he had loved more was in danger. He didn’t show if he even gave a damn about the mage girl.  
  
The world was slowing slipping away from beneath Alistair’s feet and he was falling into an abyss.  
  
The boy left her and the mage girl broke. A terrible soul-shattering pain had crippled her and she lost her ability to see color. There was now an irreparable, hellish void in the girl’s mind, body, and soul.  
  
_Because she’s suffered enough._  
  
It is only now that Alistair understood those words. It is only now that he understood how deeply he had hurt Amell. The Templar boy mourned. He mourned for everything the mage girl had lost and every hardship he knew she will now have to face.  
  
He couldn’t, _wouldn’t,_ add to that.  
  
Then Duncan told him about his experience. Blind panic sent Alistair reeling.  
  
“That means you could…”  
  
“Not anymore.” The rogue said. “It doesn’t stay if she’s not your soulmate.” And indeed the colors from earlier have drained from his world. “It’s just her magic. It is somehow granting others the ability to see color albeit temporarily.”  
  
“And you haven’t told her about it?” The girl had a huge venerability that she doesn’t know of. Again, the desire to protect her stirred in Alistair’s heart.  
  
“Alistair, she nearly leveled the encampment when you claimed she was your soulmate.” The rogue’s face paled slightly. “How do you think she’s going to react when finds out that because she lost the ability others are somehow gaining it through her magic?”  
  
“She still has the right to know.” Alistair said adamantly.  
  
“She does and she will.” Duncan said calmly. “But I want to find answers first. She will have so many questions and if I could I would want to make it easier for her.”  
  
“How?” Alistair cried.  
  
“I don’t know.” Duncan admitted.  
  
There was a heavy, defeated silence hung between them. Alistair got up off the ground.  
  
“What now?” Alistair asked.  
  
“Now I deal with Amell.” Duncan was not looking forward to that. “Try and persuade her not to kill you. And then continue with hers and the rest of the new recruits' mission into the Korcari Wilds.”  
  
“You’re still going to make her a Grey Warden? After all she’s been through?” Alistair asked appalled. “Why?”  
  
“Because it is what she wants. I don’t plan on putting her on the front lines but if it’s a fight she wants it’s a fight she will get.”  
  
Duncan sighed when he saw that that answer didn’t satisfy Alistair.  
  
“I understand, Alistair, I really do. I also do not want to see her harmed. But if it is a Blight we are dealing with then Amell would be a huge asset to this war. Her prowess alone would turn the tide and we cannot afford to not use her.”  
  
Duncan turned to a disgruntled Alistair.  
  
“This is an order. Go and prepare.”  
  


* * *

It was an effort to put one foot in front of the other, but the rogue soldiered on.  
  
It was so unsettling to see meek, goofy Alistair so…unhinged. The wild panic in his eyes when he thought Amell was going to be harmed was alarming. Duncan should be feeling irked by Alistair’s threat and insubordination. But the boy was a mere cub trying to roar. Nothing about it was mighty or dignified, but nevertheless it was still feral and dangerous.  
  
This was such an ugly situation.  
  
Wardens saluted him as he walked to the tent holding the wayward mage girl. He wondered how he was going to convince Amell not to retaliate for Alistair’s perceived offense. He was entirely sure he had not convinced Alistair to leave well enough alone either.  
  
“Has she given you any trouble?” He asked the Wardens after he’d give an at ease.  
  
“No, Comander. She’s been quiet as a mouse.”  
  
Duncan nodded and pushed the tent flap aside. Then promptly let it fall back into place.  
  
“You do realize she’s not there anymore.”  
  
Duncan sighed through his nose as his Wardens bumbled about in alarm around him. Maybe teaching Amell how to escape undetected wasn’t a good idea. Still, he was somewhat proud at her ability to pick up and learn thing quickly. She really was going to be a wonderful addition to the Grey Wardens. At least she will be, once he got her to stop raising hell.  
  
His foot caught on an uneven groove on the ground. He recognized the pattern from the soles of Amell’s boots. He had taught her how to cover her tracks so she must have left this one on purpose. It pointed to the direction of the kennels.  
  
Her actions indicated that she was willing to be found and talked to, just not while she was in a make-shift prison, understandably so.  
  
Duncan rolled his shoulders and marched off in search of Solona Amell.


End file.
